Direction signal



April 29, 19240 1,491,859

w. A. HINES DIRECTION SIGNAL Filed June 8, 1923 hereinafter.

l atentedrhpr. 2Q, l lo hit earns WILLIAM a. mans, or nnnnno, onnanona Y DIRECTION SIGNAL.

Application filed June 8,

To all whom, it may concern: 7

Be it known thatl, WILLIAM A. HINES, citizen of the United States, residingat El Reno, in the county of Canadian and State of Oklahoma, have invented certain new and And the invention seeks, as a still further object, to provide a signal embodying a signal arm which will normally be invisible to trafiic in the rear of the vehicle but which may be readily swung manually to project.

laterally from the vehicle for signaling such trafiic. g V

Other and incidental objects will appear In the drawings:

Figure 1 1s a perspective VlGWSllOWlIlg my improved signal mounted upon a conventional sedan, the signal arm of the device" being illustrated in active position, 7

Figure 2 is a detail sectional View through the device, the signal arm being swung downwardly to inactive position,

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows, I I Figur at is a detail sectional view on the line 4- of Figure2, looking in the direc-'' tion of the arrows, V

Figure-5 is a detail perspective view-show ing the inner end of the signal arm and one 7 p 7 I 27. The front face'of the arm-is preferably of the clutch members employed, and I Figure .6 1S a fragmentary sectional view similar to Figure 2, showing a slight Imodiii cation of the invention.

In carrying the invention into eflect, I

employ a bearing tube 10 which may, as

illustrated in the drawings, being inserted V erably integral with the clutch member and provided"with a 'diametric slot 21.

teas. seriaino. 644,212.

extending through the arm are on or more screws 15 sunk intothe panel 11 for locking the arm against swinging movement 21S1 W 3ll as holding the clutch member 12 against rotation. is bent forwardly awayfrom the panel and is provided with .a horizontally disposed channel member 16. Gripped in said channel member is a stop cushion 17 of rubber or see At its lower end portion, the arm the like, extending forwardly from said member beyond the lines of the ad acent end of the armas well as projecting at one end of said member. Slidably and rotatably fitting through the bearing tube 10 a shaft 18 upon the outer end of which is threaded a disc-shaped clutch member '19 provided at its inner sidewith'alinedlugs 20 engageable in the slots 13 of the clutch member 12 while at its oute rsidmsaid clutch member is, as shown in detail in Figure 5,

ting over the outer end; of the shaft is a signal arm 22 which preferably is gradually widened toward its outer end. The signal Fit- armispreferably formed of sheet metal and: is-pro'vided with side flanges 23and 24 m t ing at the smaller end of the arm." Pressed;

inwardly from the arm atoppositefsidosfof the opening therein which rece ves the shaft; 18, are, as shownin Figure 5, alined ribs 25 engaging in the slot 21 of the clutch mem 'ber 19, looking the arm and said clutchniem ber to turn in unison, and threaded upon the outer end of the shaft is a nut 26' removably securing the arm in position thereon, it being observed that said clutch-member is housed by the meeting end. portions-ofthe flanges 23 and 24 at the smaller end ofth'e arm. Formed in Ithe'flange 23 to freely accommodate the stop cushion 17 is, as par- V ticularly brought out in Figure 2, anotch painted to correspondito the color of [the vehicle. to which the device is applied'while uponthe'rear face of the arm is suitably ;im-;

posed a hand pointingito-ward theouter end ofthe arm and preferably the word'Safety is, as suggested in Figure l also imposed uponthe rear. faceof the arm Freely fitting over the nner end of th'e bearing tube 10 is a washer-28 and threaded upo'n the' tube to seat against said washer isa nut 291:0:-

ably secured upon the shaft by a nut 31 and interposed between said knob and the inner end of the bearing tube is a spring 32 tending to shift the shaft inwardly and hold arm, the knob 30. is again pushed forwardly when'the signal arm will immediately gravi tate downwardly to vertical position lying within the lines of the vehicle body so as to be obscured to traffic at the rear of the vehicle. When the arm thus swings downwardly, the arm will travel in front of the stop cushion 17, as shown in Figure 3, until the flange 24 of the arm strikes the projecting end of the cushion so that-the cushion will accordingly function to yieldably limit thearm in its downward swinging movement. Upon reaching the limit of. its downward movement, the arm will be drawn rearwardly by the spring 32 functioning to engage the clutch member 19 with the clutch member 12 sothat the arm will be brought into binding contact with the forward edge of the cushion and rattling accordingly eliminated. A downwardly inclined position of the armfwill indicate an intention to stop or slow down; a horizontal position of the arm, an intention to turn to the left; and an upwardly inclined-position of the arm, an in' tention to turn to the right, while by moving the arm up and down a number of times,

as suggested in dotted lines in Figure 1, the

driver may readily attract the attention of traffic. 1 V

In Figure 6 of the drawings, I have illustrated a slight modification of the invention wherein I employ rotatable operating shaft 33 which is inserted through the front panel 34 of the vehicle body and fitting the forward end of the shaft is a clutch member 35 provided at its upper side with an'ear 36 and at its lower side with a depending spring arm 37. Extending through said ear and the arm are screws 38 securing the clutch member upon the panel so that said clutch member will serve to rotatably support the shaft 33, and removably mounted upon'the outer end portion of the shaft is a coacting clutch member 39 and signal arm40 identical with the parts 19 and 22'ofthe preferred construction and secured in like manner.

I Mounted upon the lower end of the arm 37 is a stop cushion 41 to cooperate with-the arm 40, the stop cushion 41 corresponding to the stop cushion 17 of the preferred construction. At its inner end, the shaft 33 is formed with a crank 42 carryinga handle 43 and bearing between the crank and a washer 44 resting against the inner face of the panel 34, is a spring 45 normally holding the clutch member 39 engaged with the clutch member 35. Thus, as will be seen, this modified structure may be operated by means of the crank 42 in a manner similar to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the modified structure being, however, more simplified. i

7 Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A direction signal for motor vehicles ineluding a fixed clutch member having a spring arm depending therefrom, a stop cushion carried by-said arm, a rotatable longitudinally movable shaft associated with the clutch member and provided with a signal arm adapted to gravitate downwardly limited by said stop cushion, a coacting clutch member carrie'd by the shaft, and a spring acting to shift the shaft longitudinally and hold said clutch members engaged as well as also hold the signal arm against said stop cushion to prevent rattling when said arm is inactive. i

2. A directionsignal for motor vehicles including a rotatable longitudinally movable shaft, a fixed clutch member associated therewith, a movable clutch member carried by the shaft and provided with a slot, a signal arm secured uponthe shaft and having a rib pressed therefrom to engage in said slot securingthe arm to-turn with the latter clutch member, and a spring tending to shift the arm longitudinally and hold the latter clutch member in engagement with said first mentioned clutch member.

3. A directionsignal for motor vehicles including a rotatable shaft mounted for longitudinal-movement, a signal armswinging+ ly supported by the shaft, stop means'for said arm, the arm being movable to inactive position in front of said stop means limited thereby, and yieldable means for shifting the shaft longitudinally and binding the arm against said stop means to prevent rattling.

' 4. A directionsignal' for motor vehicles ineluding a rotatable shaft mounted for longi tudinal movement, a signal arm swingingly supported thereby, a fixed armextendmg in the rear of the plane of. movement: of the 7 WILLIAM a. muss. n 8. 

